Deepbridge Magazine - Autumn 2023

Meet the Company

GenoMe Diagnostics

Andrew Aldridge, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, interviews Shannon Beattie, Chief Executive Officer at GenoME Diagnostics, which is part of Deepbridge’s Life Sciences SEIS portfolio.

AUTUMN 2023

Visit North Wales

We share our team’s top tips for visiting a city or region. In this edition we thought we would look at North Wales, known for its rugged coastline, mountainous national parks, distinctive Welsh language, and Celtic culture.

Our 2023 Challenge

On Saturday 16th September 2023, the Deepbridge Team tackled “Snowdon at Sunrise”. Climbing Yr Wydffa (Snowdon in old parlance) in the dark, the team reached the peak of Snowdon at sunrise in the return of the Deepbridge Challenge.

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more, see below.

FCA Prescribed Risk Warning

Risk summary for non-readily realisable securities which are shares.

Estimated reading time: 2 min

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

1. You could lose all the money you invest

• If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.

2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

• Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.

• Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.

3. You won’t get your money back quickly

• Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.

• The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.

• If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

• Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.

• A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.

5. The value of your investment can be reduced

• The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.

• These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

• If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.

Our chosen charity for 2023 is the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation

With it being 25 years this year sine the Good Friday Agreement and 30 years since the IRA bombing of Warrington, we felt it relevant this year to support a great local charity that continues to work with victims and survivors of terrorism whilst also working with young people at risk of becoming involved in conflict.

General enquiries

HEAD OFFICE

Deepbridge Capital LLP

Deepbridge House

Honeycomb East

Chester Business Park

Chester CH4 9QN

T: +44 (0) 1244 746000

E: info@deepbridgecapital.com

www.deepbridgecapital.com

Welcome

Welcome to this latest edition of the Deepbridge Magazine,

Given the macro-economic challenges we have all faced over the past 12 months, the 2022/23 tax year was a strange and challenging period, but ultimately a rewarding one. We were delighted to see further progress within our EIS investment portfolios, with our renewable energy assets also continuing to perform well.

Since inception, Deepbridge has always sought to identify, support and grow the most innovative companies seeking to make significant contributions to the world, way beyond purely capital growth. As part of our continued commitment to this, I am delighted that Steve Taylor, Investment Services Technical Manager in the Technology Growth team, has recently gained Chartered ESG Investment Manager status and is leading our focus on sustainability and impact investing.

In this edition we hear from GenoMe Diagnostics a fascinating portfolio company based in Belfast who recently won the ‘Best EIS Investee Company’ award at the EIS Association Awards. We also speak to Entropix and get updates from my colleagues Dr Savvas Neophytou, Chief Investment Officer, and Andrew Hughes, Head of Renewables.

As always in the Deepbridge Magazine, we like to share our colleagues’ appreciation of their favourite places and in this edition we travel over the boarder to the beautiful North Wales. This is where the Deepbridge team will be heading in September as we climb Yr Wyddfa to experience ‘Snowdon at Sunrise.’

I hope you enjoy this Deepbridge Magazine. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Deepbridge team.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ian Warwick Managing Partner, Deepbridge

IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND RISKS

Deepbridge investments are both illiquid and high risk, not suitable for all investors and investors should not consider investing unless they can afford the full loss of their investment.

This document is a financial promotion for the purposes of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The content of the document has been approved by Deepbridge Capital LLP.

This document does not constitute, and may not be construed as, an offer or invitation to invest or make commitments pursuant to Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The information contained herein is subject to updating, amending and verification therefore you should not rely upon it for any purpose.

Any investment in a Deepbridge proposition will be made solely on the basis of the respective product literature and customer agreements. Please be aware that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and may not necessarily be repeated. The value of investments may go down as well as up and you could lose all or any of the amounts you originally invested.

This document is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other advice. In particular, any tax reliefs referred to in this document are for information purposes only and based on our interpretation of current law. The application and value of potential tax reliefs depends upon the individual circumstances of each person, may be subject to change in the future as a result of subsequent changes in law and therefore cannot be guaranteed. Prospective investors should take appropriate professional advice (including legal, financial and tax advice) before making any investment decision, no reliance should be placed on any information contained in this document, whether for investment purposes or otherwise and any decisions or actions taken based on such information is the responsibility of the person taking that action or decision.

Deepbridge Capital LLP is registered in England & Wales, Partnership No. OC356449. Registered Office: Deepbridge House, Honeycomb East, Chester Business Park, Chester CH4 9QN, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 563366).

Front Cover image: Queens Univestity Belfast. Home of GenoME Diagnostics

Contents

4 Deepbridge Discovery

Join the Deepbridge Capital team each week as they discuss all things Deepbridge, speak with various investment experts within the company and discover more about the founders and CEOs’ running the portfolio companies Deepbridge invests in.

4 Meet Terri Head

Terri explains her role and how Deepbridge seeks to support clients and intermediaries throughout the investment journey.

6 Visit North Wales

In this section we share our team’s top tips for visiting a city or region. In this edition we thought we would look at North Wales, known for its rugged coastline, mountainous national parks, distinctive Welsh language, and Celtic culture.

9 Market Commentary

Dr. Savvas Neophytou, Partner & Chief Investment Officer and Andrew Hughes Partner and Head of Renewables discuss the latest news from both Technology, Life Sciences and Renewable Energy.Partner and Head of Renewables

10 Meet the Company:

Andrew Aldridge, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, interviews Shannon Beattie, Chief Executive Officer at GenoME Diagnostics, which is part of Deepbridge’s Life Sciences SEIS portfolio, in the 25th instalment of the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast.

12 Deepbridge News

An update on the latest news and insight from Deepbridge and its investee companies.

14 Meet the Company:

Aldridge, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, interviews Rob Rule, Chief Executive Officer at Entropix, which is part of Deepbridge’s Life Sciences SEIS portfolio, in the 20th instalment of the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast.

14 Deepbridge Challenge 2023

On Saturday 16th September 2023, the Deepbridge Team tackled “Snowdon at Sunrise”. Climbing Yr Wydffa (Snowdon in old parlance) in the dark, the team reached the peak of Snowdon at sunrise in the return of the Deepbridge Challenge.

AVAILABLE

TO

Join the Deepbridge Capital team each week as they discuss all things Deepbridge, speak with various investment experts within the company and discover more about the founders and CEOs’ running the portfolio companies Deepbridge invests in. Each Deepbridge Discovery Podcast contains an informal conversation to understand how these leaders and teams perform in order to achieve their goals.

Microplate DX’s Next Steps & Goals

Stuart Hannah (Chief Executive Officer at Microplate Dx Limited) joins the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast to discuss his background, how Microplate Dx Limited came to be and some of the challenges that he has faced.

WATCH EPISODE 34

Meet Olivia Drinnan

Olivia Drinnan (Strategic Partnerships Manager at Deepbridge Capital) discusses her background before joining Deepbridge, more about her role within Deepbridge and speaks on a recent round of events that Olivia had been working on.

WATCH EPISODE 33

Steve Bloor (CEO at Vidergen Ltd) joins the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast to discuss his background, Vidergen’s key milestones to date and the next steps and goals.

Based

at Deepbridge House, in Chester, Terri is Head

Terri explains her role and how Deepbridge seeks to support clients and intermediaries throughout the investment journey.

Within the business development team at Deepbridge, I am predominantly responsible for ensuring that financial advisers and clients are able to access the information and support they require, when they require it. Operating in a heavily regulated environment, as we do, it is imperative that information, documentation and reporting is accessible within a controlled environment. As well as providing access to online systems and regular reporting, we also appreciate the importance of being able to access a human voice, which is where my colleagues and I come in.

Working closely with the investor relations team and our regional directors, I thoroughly enjoy solving problems and helping our clients. Having worked in and around financial services for well over a decade, I have also worked in recruitment, and I think it’s that where my problem-solving nature developed. No two days

are the same and being adaptable is incredibly important to ensuring clients get the outcome they require.

Deepbridge’s focus has always been to identify and support the very best early-stage companies across the UK tech, life sciences and renewable energy sectors. In order to do this, the venture capital provided by our clients and financial adviser is imperative, so it is essential that we make all processes as seamless as possible, including pre-investment, post-investment and on exit.

At Deepbridge we are extremely fortunate to have a community of investors and financial advisers who are extremely supportive and proactive, which makes my already enjoyable job so much easier!

When not working, my daughter and family are my primary focus, but I also enjoy true crime and socialising with friends, when time allows.

IT ACTUALLY IS ROCKET SCIENCE.

Deepbridge’s EIS and SEIS funds invest in growth-focused innovative technology and life sciences companies.

Deepbridge’s team of sector experts invest across a wide range of sub-sectors, offering hands-on management support to great teams seeking to deliver an intellectual property driven solution… and yes, this could actually include rocket science!

Investors can access the potential future technologies of tomorrow whilst bene ting from the generous tax reliefs available via the UK Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed EIS.

www.deepbridgecapital.com

Capital at risk. EIS and SEIS investments are illiquid and unquoted stocks and therefore should be considered as high risk. Tax reliefs are dependent on individual circumstances, cannot be guaranteed and may be subject to change. Seek independent nancial advice.

Issued by Deepbridge Capital LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England & Wales, registration No. OC356449. Registered of ce: Deepbridge House, Honeycomb East, Chester Business Park, Chester CH4 9QN. Deepbridge Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 563366).

NORTH WALES

In this section we share our team’s top tips for visiting a city or region. In this edition we thought we would look at North Wales, known for its rugged coastline, mountainous national parks, distinctive Welsh language, and Celtic culture.

DAYS OUT...

As you’d expect, we of course have to mention Snowdonia National Park. A rugged area with waterfalls and trails, including routes up Mount Snowdon. Covering a total of 823 square miles, Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) is Wales’ largest National Park. Home to over 26,000 people, Eryri’s landscape is steeped with culture, history, and heritage, where the Welsh language is part of the day-today fabric of the area. Nearly 4 million people visit Eryri every year to explore its towering peaks and breath-taking valleys, find tranquillity in its lessertrodden paths and discover its extensive recreation opportunities.

Senior Marketing Executive at Deepbridge Capital, Oshan Bennett recommends visiting Snowdonia National Park and its vast mountains, commenting, “With amazing views, great walks and an extremely scenic place to visit, Snowdonia National Park is one of the most beautiful parks in the United Kingdom. One mountain I would recommend to visit is Moel Siabod. At 872 metres, it is the highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range. Being one of the less difficult mountains to conquer, it is regarded as one of the finest viewpoints in Snowdonia. I would also recommend visiting Caffi Siabod once you’re finished, for a hot cup of tea and a warm lunch to fill you up.”

Paul Seager, Head of Brand at Deepbridge Capital adds, “I would personally recommend hiking Mount Snowdon,

it boasts an expansive landscape of towering mountains, deep valleys, rolling hills and shimmer lakes. The breathtaking scenery is just spectacular, and it is no wonder Snowdonia National Park is considered one of the most beautiful areas in the United Kingdom. However, be prepared and have a guide or someone who knows the trail well.”

Beyond the Snowdonia National Park, visiting Medieval Conwy Castle is a must. With the spiral staircases that

have been restored, you can now walk a complete circuit around the battlements of Conwy Castle. Taking place alongside King Edward I’s other great castles at Beaumaris, Harlech and Caernarfon, it’s enough to take your breath away, especially when you consider King Edward I and his architect Master James of St George built both the castle and its walls within 4 years, between 1283 and 1287.

Terri Head, Head of Client and Intermediary Support at Deepbridge

Conwy Castle

Capital recommends visiting Conwy Castle, “Conwy Castle as a whole, highlights the history of Wales and it is exceptionally well preserved. With spectacular views atop the towers, brilliant staff and being located in the lovely town of Conwy, I’d definitely recommend a visit. Whilst you’re there, I’d also recommend a visit to Conwy Quay – take a look around the smallest house in the United Kingdom and then get some fish and chips from The Archway, the fish is fresh and delicious, the staff are lovely and they also offer an amazing gluten free range!”

If you take a short drive south, you can visit Bodnant Gardens, a National Trust property near Tal-y-Cafn that overlooks Conwy Valley towards the Carneddau mountains. Developed by five generations of one family and founded in 1874, it was given to the National Trust in 1949. The gardens span over 80 acres of hillside and includes formal Italianate terraces, informal shrub borders stocked with plants from around the world, areas of woodland garden with a number of notable trees and a waterfall. In 2019 alone, over 260,000 people visited Bodnant Gardens for its beautiful, well-tended gardens and walks.

Donna Battersby, Partner & Regional Director, North of England at Deepbridge Capital commented, “An amazing place to visit in either winter or summer. The grounds are well kept, with wonderful walks to go on for every type of walker.

Whether you want a short stroll or a moderate 2 mile walk, there’s plenty of trails you can take that reward you with panoramic views. You can also find indoor and outdoor seating, with hot and cold meals at the Pavilion and Magnolia tearooms which are an important part of any visit to Bodnant Gardens.”

Tony Lyons, Project Manager at Deepbridge Capital adds, “Bodnant Gardens is one of the best National Trust gardens I’ve visited. Stunning displays of colour and lovingly maintained formal

gardens contrast with open green spaces and the lush river valley. With various walks that highlight the different gardens in their unique ways, there is something to see at every turn.”

Portmeirion Village is another must visit landmark in North Wales. Nestled between the Dwyryd estuary and the majestic Snowdonia mountain range, Portmeirion Village is a private village resort and gardens, set on its own peninsular with vistas in every direction and endless pathways to explore.

Conwy Quay

Bodnant Gardens

Fund Manager, Head of Technology Growth at Deepbridge Capital, Simon ThelwallJones regarded Portmeirion Village as “a wonderful experience”. Simon added, “Portmeirion Village is a magical and unique place. The design and architecture of the buildings is breath-taking, and the entire village has an almost surreal, dreamlike quality to it. The facilities are excellent, with delicious food and coffee, several gift shops throughout the village and overall, a wonderful place to visit. The woods offer a great number of walks, some more tricky than others, all however, with breath-taking view points that stretch out to the nearby sea which are worth trying to seek out.

EATING OUT…

Naturally, North Wales is host to an overwhelming choice of great restaurants and cafés. One of which, a traditional country pub nestled in the heart of the seaside town of Llandudno. The Cottage Loaf has everything you would expect from a Welsh country pub; open fires, wooden beams, old heavy furniture, colourful gardens, great cask ales and of course, hearty homemade food served by friendly faces.

Oliver Wheatley, Associate Investment Director at Deepbridge Capital adds, “The Cottage Loaf has excellent food and great value for money. With friendly staff and a

nice atmosphere, it would be regretful if you didn’t add this cosy little pub to your list of restaurants to visit.”

Dr. Andy Round, Investment Director at Deepbridge Capital recommends Bryn Williams Bistro at Port Eirias. Located a stones throw away from the sea, with a menu full of Welsh produce that has been produce as local as possible to the bistro. Dr. Andy Round comments, “With excellent food and accommodating staff along with it, there’s nothing more you could ask for with Bryn Williams Bistro. Lovely, flavourful food at reasonable prices and a great ambiance, second only to the beautiful sea views.”

The Cottage Loaf Market St, Llandudno LL30 2SR

T: 01492 870762

www.the-cottageloaf.co.uk

Bryn Williams Bistro

Colwyn Bay LL29 8HH

www.portheirias.com

T: 01492 533700

Village

Portmeirion

Llandudno

MARKET COMMENTARY

LIFE SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY

While tech and pharma stocks outperformed during the pandemic pressures of 2020–21, the sector led considerable stock market declines in 2022. A major challenge for many tech and life sciences companies in 2023 has been to weather the economic slowdown by potentially trimming costs, increasing efficiency, and growing revenues. At the same time, there are many looking for ways to remain innovative and build a strong competitive position for the future. Over the past 12 months, our focus has been on ensuring our portfolio companies are well capitalised and have a clear growth plan, despite the macro pressures. We are already seeing the benefits to this approach and are delighted with the collective progress of our investee companies.

Both the Technology Growth and Life Sciences portfolios continue to progress and mature, with significant commercial milestones and co-funding secured across the portfolios. Within the life sciences portfolio there are too many success stories to mention, but there are a few specific mentions that are representative of the progress being made; IbisVision securing significant US co-funding from sector experts Compiler VC, Vidivet being named a Tech Nation national winner, Microplate DX winning the Most Innovative Healthcare Technology at the recent Scottish Life Science Awards and the ongoing trial successes of the likes of Elasmogen and Stent Tek.

Equally, within the Technology Growth portfolio, I won’t go into specifics, but a few examples of progress include the commercial adoption of Smallspark Space System’s software systems, L3M’s ongoing attraction of big name commercial partnerships (including the likes of Under Armour, Boots Walgreen, McLaren, Swiss Life and PepsiCo), Perse’s growing revenues, Hurricane’s roll out success across the Universal Postal Union, Enso Tyres’ trial with Royal Mail, arbnco’s commercial success in the USA and many more.

We’ve also seen several new companies come into our portfolios, including spinouts form the Universities of Belfast, Strathclyde, Leeds and Bristol. We have now supported the commercialisation and growth of companies based on intellectual property developed in 17 different universities from across the UK.

Overall, we are pleased with the progress of our portfolios and, despite challenging economic conditions and downward pressure on valuation, we now have multiple companies in the throes of actively planning an exit.

Dr. Savvas Neophytou Partner & Chief Investment Officer, Deepbridge

RENEWABLES

You may well have seen a news article by the BBC in May 2023, reporting that research by Imperial College London shows that electricity produced by UK wind farms outstripped that provided by gas during the first three months of 2023 – the first time this has happened. During this period, the research highlights that a third of the country’s electricity came from wind farms during this period.

Over the past decade, the UK has made significant strides in transitioning towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. One of the key indicators of this progress is the increasing share of renewable energy in the UK’s energy mix. The shift towards renewable sources has been driven by a combination of government policies, technological advancements, and growing public awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

In recent years, the UK has witnessed a remarkable growth in renewable energy capacity, leading to a substantial increase in the proportion of renewable energy in the overall energy mix. This growth has been driven by various sources, including wind power, solar energy, biomass, and hydropower.

Wind power has emerged as a dominant force in the UK’s renewable energy sector. The country has abundant wind resources, both onshore and offshore, which have been harnessed through the development of wind farms.

Looking ahead, the UK aims to further increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix. The Government has set ambitious targets, including generating 70% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Continued investment in renewable energy infrastructure, technological advancements, and favourable government policies will be crucial in driving further growth and maintaining the upward trajectory of renewable energy’s contribution to the UK energy mix.

In conclusion, the UK renewable energy sector has experienced significant growth in recent years, resulting in an increasing percentage share of the UK energy mix. Wind power, solar energy, biomass, and hydropower have all contributed to this progress. The transition to a cleaner and more sustainable energy system reflects the UK’s commitment to mitigating climate change and creating a greener future.

Andrew Hughes Partner and Head of Renewables at Deepbridge

Meet the company:

Shannon Beattie, Chief Executive Officer at GenoME Diagnostics

Andrew Aldridge, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, interviews Shannon Beattie, Chief Executive Officer at GenoME Diagnostics, which is part of Deepbridge’s Life Sciences SEIS portfolio, in the 25th instalment of the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast.

Andrew Aldridge: Hey Shannon, could you please tell us a little bit about GenoME Diagnostics and how it came to be?

Shannon Beattie: GenoME is focused on developing novel tests for early detection of diseases which are in dire need of improvement. Our first product in development is a novel blood test for early detection of ovarian cancer. GenoME was built from over 10 years of academic research from Professor Mullans Lab, in the Patrick G. Johnston Centre at Queens University, Belfast.

Primarily, it was from three key founders, Paul Mullan, James Bryne and Laura Finney. Their research was a theme of improving the diagnosis of ovarian cancer patients. They were focused on identification and validation of biomarkers for early detection of hybrid serous carcinoma which is the most common and aggressive form of ovarian cancer, using cutting edge techniques to detect an accurate signal from small blood volume.

Ovarian cancer, like most cancers, shows much better overall survival rates if it is caught as early as possible - but unfortunately, with ovarian cancer, most cases are diagnosed later on into the disease progression, really when symptoms are in their advanced stages. It’s called, “the silent killer”. We were fascinated with developing ways to improve the chances of detecting this aggressive disease earlier.

Andrew Aldridge: So, what is your background and how did you get involved?

Shannon Beattie: I was studying my PhD at the Professor Mullan’s Lab, alongside the ovarian cancer work. I was looking at

a particular type of breast cancer, which also has poor survival rates and it’s more likely to spread than the other types of breast cancer. As I was finishing my studies, ovarian cancer was selected for the IQ pre commercialization program and I was very lucky to be selected as the early career researcher for the program. So, it was three months of quite intensive travel for conferences and trade shows across the world, forming customer discovery and market validation, networking and getting feedback from potential partners, collaborators and competitors.

There were so many interesting conversations, lots of interesting people to meet and help shape our product development. It was a really useful program, I’d highly recommend it to anyone.

AA: Fantastic. So, what have been some of the key milestones for GenoME to date?

Ovarian cancer, like most cancers, shows much better overall survival rates if it is caught as early as possible - but unfortunately, with ovarian cancer, most cases are diagnosed later on into the disease progression, really when symptoms are in their advanced stages It’s called, “the silent killer”.

SB: We’ve had multiple key funding and award milestones. We had our first grant funding with the Innovate UK grant and closed our first round of investment. That allowed us to really get off the ground and make our first hires, with our fantastic team. It also allowed us to get our own equipment and start progressing the technical and the commercial milestones. We were awarded £50,000 as part of the celebrations marking International Women’s Day on March 8th 2022, which will be used to aid early detection of ovarian cancer.

In terms of technical development milestones, we have doubled the number of biomarkers on our patents, so that’s really elevated the IP value of the company and also increased the clinical and commercial utility of the test itself.

AA: For you personally, it’s very rare to find someone such as yourself who’s got the academic skills and commercial skills to run and grow a business. It’s a pretty impressive combination, when you come across it. What challenges have you faced personally, making that step into the commercial world?

SB: It’s definitely been a steep learning curve. I’ve had a lot of support and the team has been great as well, which has been fantastic. I’d say surrounding yourself with the right mentors and support is a massive help. With academia, everything has to be perfect and has to be 100%. However, on the commercial side, we’re looking very much further forward into a very big picture. So, I think it’s being able to see where we wanted to go with the results we have at the minute.

AA: What are the next steps for GenoME going forward?

SB: One of our next key steps would be to validate our ovarian cancer tests and the plasma samples, then once we have that, we can engage with a manufacturing partner to develop the discal kits. This would then complete our necessary validation and documentation to file for the CE marking to bring our ovarian cancer test to market.

We will also initially bring the ovarian cancer test to market as a disease monitoring tool. So alongside this, we will be performing the validation to assess the ovarian cancer test in the diagnostic setting.

Our longer term ambition is to develop the ovarian cancer tests as the first screening tool for ovarian cancer. This is a much larger scale validation and would be over a much longer timeframe in larger cohorts of blood samples.

We’re also continuing our platform development. We’re beginning to utilise our bespoke biomarker pipeline to begin development for early morning tests for their disease indications. We’ve just had a collaborative grant to begin that in pancreatic cancer. So, we’re starting to scale and grow the company in the next year or so, which is very exciting.

It’s definitely been a steep learning curve. I’ve had a lot of support and the team has been great as well, which has been fantastic. I’d say surrounding yourself with the right mentors and support is a massive help.

Shannon Beattie, Chief Executive Officer at GenoME Diagnostics

Deepbridge Team Member Gains ESG Qualification

As part of Deepbridge’s ongoing commitment to being at the forefront of responsible and impactful investing, Steve Taylor, Investment Services Technical Manager within the Deepbridge Technology Growth investment team, has qualified as a Chartered ESG Investment Manager.

With the Deepbridge focus on supporting great early-stage renewable energy, life sciences and socially impactful technology companies, we have long been focused on responsible investing, with this formal qualification within the team re-reinforcing this commitment.

The Chartered ESG Investment Manager (CEIM™) program seeks to equip participants with the expertise to effectively analyse and integrate ESG factors into investment decisionmaking processes, helping to identify companies with strong ESG practices.

“According to a study by MSCI, companies in the MSCI World Index with strong ESG ratings consistently outperformed their counterparts with weaker ratings by a margin of over 3% per year over a decade-long period. Reports such as this reaffirm our belief that our approach of identifying, managing and growing companies within the aforementioned sectors is not only good for society but also good for investors.”

Dr Savvas Neophytou, Partner and Chief Investment Officer

Ibisvision wins £4.5 Million in growth funding

IbisVision, which is part of the Deepbridge Life Sciences EIS portfolio, has recently raised £4.5 million in growth funding as it seeks to open offices across the United States and sell its ground-breaking remote eye test platform into the world's richest healthcare markets.

The money will be used to double its workforce and open an office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The company is poised to ramp up sales in the US, where it’s estimated there are around 110 million eye tests annually, after receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) listing in March.

The company is also looking to tap into the eyecare market of the 448 million citizens across the European Union. IbisVision is already in discussions with a significant number of well-known eyecare brands to develop partnerships for its breakthrough platform.

GenoME Diagnostics has recently won the 'Best EIS Investee Company' award at the 2023 EISA Awards, that took place at House of Lords on Thursday 22nd June. The 2023 EISA Awards denote excellence in a number of EIS/SEIS fields and recognize the achievements of EIS/ SEIS practitioners during the past year.

Deepbridge has also been shortlisted for the 'Best SEIS Investment Manager' award and 'Best EIS Investment Manager' award.

“The commitment of our investor base shows they believe strongly in our story — that eyecare will be at the vanguard of remote healthcare, and IbisVision has the technology to make this a reality.

Our mission is simple – to make eyecare readily available for anyone on the planet and that distance and time will never be an impediment to getting to an eye appointment.”

Mark Roger, CEO

Andrew Aldridge appointed to EISA board

The Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA) has appointed Andrew Aldridge (Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital) to its Board of Directors to support the continued success of the EIS and SEIS in facilitating private investment into fast growth, innovative start-ups in the UK.

Andrew Aldridge is a Partner and the Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, a Chester based EIS Fund Manager. With over a decade of financial services experience, since graduating from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Aldridge is a growth specialist, with over two decades of experience helping companies develop their brand reputation, deliver financial results and develop communications strategies, within heavily regulated environments.

Enso Tyres delivers successful results from tests

ENSO Tyres Limited, one of Deepbridge’s Technology Growth EIS Companies, has “successfully proven” the benefits of its specially developed electric vehicle (EV) tyres in a 15-month trial.

In tests conducted for the TfL FreightLab ‘innovation challenge’, ENSO claims its “specially tuned” products outperformed standard-fit tyres in terms of particulate emissions and rolling resistance.

Delivery vehicle fleets from FreightLab partners, including the Nissan eNV200 and Peugeot Partner EV, were tested against those fitted with standard fit premium tyres and budget brands.

Particulate matter (PM) emissions were reduced by up to 35% - compared to budget brands - while vehicles fitted with ENSO tyres showed energy efficiency improvements of up to 10%.

The release, however, did not provide further test data or details of the other tyres used in the trials.

In response to ERJ’s enquiry on this point, ENSO, Chief Executive Officer, Gunnlaugur Erlendsson explained: “The test data is however not available as it also includes third-party data from our trial partners.”

“The work of our trade body has never been more important, as we seek clarity from the UK Government regarding their promise to continue to back the Enterprise Investment Scheme as a key economic driver; encouraging the flow of capital into growth focused companies. I am honoured to be joining the Board of EISA. I look forward to representing our industry and promoting EIS as the undoubted success story that it is.”

Andrew Aldridge, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer

Meet the company:

Rob Rule, Chief Executive Officer

Andrew Aldridge: Hey Rob, thanks for joining us. First and foremost, could you just give us a bit of background to Entropix and an insight into your background before founding Entropix?

Rob Rule: Entropix is a young biotech company, we’re based in the Northwest. The ambition for Entropix is to develop enzymes that are capable of degrading plastics. The underlying technology that we have for developing enzymes with improved performance, can be used in a whole range of different industries, from diagnostics, to detergents, to pharmaceuticals, to foods. In fact, the first customer interest that we’ve had, has been in the diagnostics sector.

In terms of background and the development of the business, in many ways, it was a product of Covid-19. My cofounder, Professor David Hornby had been a professor for 20 years at the University of Sheffield. He decided during lockdown, that he would leave his full time role at the University and he approached me with a number of ideas and technologies that he had in mind for the development of improved enzymes.

In terms of my background, I worked for ICI for around 10-11 years. Moving on from ICI, I worked for around 10 years in the early stage tech industry, where I did some venture capital work on my own, investing in university spinouts and worked in the seed fund in Liverpool. Then, in the last 10 years of my career, I went back into industry and working in an international privately owned engineering group in Canada as a director of that group, I helped run one of the divisions and did some acquisitions for them.

AA: You must feel quite comfortable coming to Entropix as you’ve got a science background, you’ve worked with startups and raising venture capital, that must be very interesting for you.

RR: Definitely, it’s a nice culmination of many different things that I’ve done in my career. Whether it’s having the experience of working with big companies or big organisations, which we hope to do at Entropix in future as we develop our technologies. Or whether it’s the knowledge of getting companies up and running, it’s all very helpful.

AA: That’s great. What are some of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced getting a business off the ground?

RR: I think I’d put the challenges we’ve faced into three or four different categories. The first challenge, of course, was Covid-19. The foundation date for the company was the 1st of April 2021, which meant the company couldn’t really get up and running properly as we were mid Covid-19. We were on the lookout for some facilities where we could base the company. It was difficult to find them, it was difficult to visit them to see what was available to us. In fact, a general feature in the Northwest is that there is something of a shortage of real high quality development labs for young businesses, which offer flexible capabilities. Even where we looked, the availability was pretty limited. So even though facilities do exist, they weren’t always available when we needed them due to Covid-19.

Andrew Aldridge, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, interviews Rob Rule, Chief Executive Officer at Entropix, which is part of Deepbridge’s Life Sciences SEIS portfolio, in the 20th instalment of the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast.

Head Office: ITAC Bio, Daresbury Laboratory Sci-Tech WA4 4AD

One of the second challenges was cash, myself and David originally funded the business during the early stages, but we didn’t have the resources to realise all the ambitions.

AA: Because of your background, I suppose you knew what kind of capital you wanted?

RR: Yeah, that’s right. Building the story about how much cash we needed, what we would achieve with that cash over a certain period of time and building the financial case for that, building the commercial case - as well as trying to put it in the context of the industry developments at the time and the competitive issues at the time, trying to highlight what we felt that we had that was different, i.e. our unique points. So yes, I had the experience of putting that investment case together and fortunately, we secured some capital from Deepbridge Capital.

AA: So we’ve spoken about the challenges, but what have been some of the highlights?

RR: One of the first highlights for me is always customers. We were able to sign up a customer who was a previous collaborator of David, when he was at the University of Sheffield. We were able to run our first development program, where we created a range of enzymes, we screen them for

performance, and then we identify the ones that have high performance that might be useful for our customer. So having gone through that development cycle, that’s a great sense of achievement.

Another highlight was getting the cash from Deepbridge Capital, because that provides a really strong foundation for the coming months and years. It enables us to achieve what we hope to achieve over the next year or two.

AA: We spoke about the challenges of finding that early stage cash, but what was it about Deepbridge that seemed like a good partner for Entropix?

RR: As a brand new business, we certainly benefited from the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme component of the first part of the investment from Deepbridge Capital. I think on top of the stage of development of the business, which is what led to Deepbridge’s interest. There’s also the knowledge of the business and within the Deepbridge Life Sciences team, there are experts in their field, who are also experts in investment. I also think the most important thing is that there has to be a very strong overlap between the companies vision for the business and the investors vision for the business,

otherwise there will very likely be a clash at some stage during the development of the business. We at Entropix were very lucky to have the fantastic team at Deepbridge working with us, everyone appreciated and understood what we were trying to achieve. That commonality between our view for the business and Deepbridge’s view, definitely provided a good foundation for the partnership and investment.

Entropix is a young biotech company, we’re based in the Northwest. The ambition for Entropix is to develop enzymes that are capable of degrading plastics.

Below: Entropix Welcomes Rhys Diggins and Jodie Ashford to the Enzyme Development Team

Rhys Diggins and Jodie Ashford have started their Research Scientist roles at Entropix, bringing a wealth of skills that will advance our enzyme development and optimisation work.

This years challenge

Saturday 16th September 2023, the Deepbridge Team tackled “Snowdon at Sunrise”. Climbing Yr Wydffa (Snowdon in old parlance) in the dark, the team reached the peak of Snowdon at sunrise in the return of the Deepbridge Challenge.

Previous years challenges:

Three Peak Challenge

On the 10th and 11th June 2017, the Deepbridge team tackled the National 3 Peaks Challenge, in support of the Alzheimer Society.

Tougher Mudder

This year’s Deepbridge Challenge saw members of the Deepbridge team taking part in the North West Tough Mudder Challenge on 8th September 2018, in support of the British Heart Foundation

Our Chosen Charity

Our chosen charity for 2023 is the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation.

With it being 25 years this year sine the Good Friday Agreement and 30 years since the IRA bombing of Warrington, we felt it relevant this year to support a great local charity that continues to work with victims and survivors of terrorism whilst also working with young people at risk of becoming involved in conflict.

Chester to New York Relay

Throughout June 2020, the Deepbridge team collectively walked the distance from Chester to New York, totalling 3314 miles, raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK and Hospice Of The Good Shepherd

Offa’s Dyke Challenge

On 24th September 2022, the Deepbridge team took on the hilly and challenging terrain of Bwlch Penbarras to Prestatyn on the ‘Offas Dyke Trail Path’, approximately 26 miles. The chosen charity for this year was Cancer Research UK.

Sandstone Trail

On 6th July 2019, the Deepbridge team undertook the Cheshire’s 34-mile Sandstone Trail in one day – completing the 34 miles in under 14 hours, in support of the Young Minds charity.

CLICK HERE

FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.

Prudent Inheritance Tax planning maximises the estate passed to future generations.

Equally, does it not make sense to ensure such planning is also supporting green energy projects which will enable those next generations to live in a cleaner world?

The Deepbridge Estate Planning Service provides subscribers with access to a portfolio of Business Relief qualifying renewable energy assets; driving renewable energy transformation, whilst offering IHT exemption after just two years.

www.deepbridgecapital.com

BUSINESS

RELIEF

| ONLINE APPLICATIONS | RENEWABLE ENERGY

Capital at risk. Business relief qualifying trading companies are illiquid and unquoted stocks and therefore should be considered as high risk. Tax reliefs are dependent on individual circumstances, cannot be guaranteed and may be subject to change. Seek independent nancial advice.

Issued by Deepbridge Capital LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England & Wales, registration No. OC356449. Registered of ce: Deepbridge House, Honeycomb East, Chester Business Park, Chester CH4 9QN. Deepbridge Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN:563366).